Dog and Dragon
by PrisonerPadfoot
Summary: Before the Inu no Taisho and Ryuukotsusei were enemies, they were inseparable friends. What is it that will drive them to hate each other? An ongoing drabble series.
1. The Strangest of Friends

Sitting in her garden among the blooming cherry blossoms, the Lady of the West scrutinized the two warriors coming up the path towards her. She had never seen a stranger pair of friends.

One with his hair long and silver, the other with locks black as night. One Lord of the West, the other of the East. One boisterous and brazen in his ways, the other reserved and silently fierce. They were polar opposites in every way, and yet they were almost inseparable. An inuyoukai and a ryuuyoukai, the best of friends. It was something she thought she would never see, and something she was sure never to see again.

When they reached her bench, her husband threw himself down next to her and slung an arm around her shoulders. His other hand fell gently upon her pregnant belly and his unborn first son.

Ryuukotsusei bowed to her, and she acknowledged him with a slight nod.

"Lord Ryuukotsusei, always good to see you," she said. "I trust my husband isn't corrupting you too much," she teased, and though her husband howled with laughter, the dragon remained unmoved.

"A few moments around that crazy dog could corrupt even the mightiest of taiyoukai," Ryuukotsusei said.

"You old dragon," the Inu no Taisho said, and stood to give his friend a good punch in the arm.

The Lady shook her head as they turned and walked back down the garden path together.

A strange pair indeed.


	2. Sake and Conversation

The Inu no Taisho clapped his hands and a servant bolted into the room ready to refresh their drinks.

"So my friend," the Inu no Taisho said, watching with glazed eyes as the sake returned to his cup. "When are you going to start a family of your own?"

Ryuukotsusei growled and held his cup out to be refilled. "Seeing as I have no mate and keep no concubines, not very soon. Why do you ask?"

The Dog Lord gave a wide yawn and stretched his arms, sloshing a bit of alcohol onto the floor. The servant quickly wiped it up before exiting the room.

"I can't explain it exactly," he replied. "But I can't wait to teach my son how to fight. And how to hunt. To pass on what I know. You know?"

When the Dog drank too much his verbal expression was always the first thing to suffer. Ryuukotsusei shook his head.

"I know one thing," Ryuukotsusei said, a sharp edge to his voice.

"What's that?" the Dog Lord asked, tilting back his head and draining his cup.

"Your son better damn well take after his mother, because if he takes after you he's going to be one ugly bastard," Ryuukotsusei said, taking another casual sip of sake.

The Dog Lord laughed so heartily that his last mouthful of sake splattered all over the floor, and onto his dragon friend. The Dragon was not amused, but the Dog rolled over with a stitch in his side, howling.


	3. Death and Life

Ryuukotsusei perched himself high in the boughs of a tree, waiting. One clawed hand gripped anxiously at the hilt of his sword, his keen dragon's eyes narrowed in concentration. It wouldn't be long now. One swipe of his sword and his lands would be rid of their troublesome plague.

In the distance he could hear his comrade's feral barks and the pained squeals of the boar youkai they were hunting. The boar had been laying waste to the Dragon's lands, killing youkai children, raping the women and gorging himself on the palace crops. He would take pleasure in running his blade across the bastard's throat.

He looked to the tops of the trees and saw flocks of birds taking flight, marking the chase as it progressed through the heavy woods. When they crashed into the clearing below him, the bloodied boar running for his life from the Dog General, Ryuukotsusei leaped from his perch. He landed in front of the boar and brought his sword across his throat in a fluid slash, drenching himself in the fiend's blood. Ryuukotsusei sheathed his sword as the new corpse fell to the ground, continuing to bleed itself dry.

The Inu no Taisho resumed his humanoid form and looked down at the dead youkai, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"Hmm," he hummed curiously.

"What?" Ryuukotsusei questioned.

The Dog Lord stuck a finger in the boar's fatal wound, running it over the broken skin. "A jagged slice. You made sloppy work of dispatching him," he said.

"I did not," Ryuukotsusei said defensively.

"Look for yourself," he said, and Ryuukotsusei crouched down to inspect his work.

"I see nothing wrong with it," the dragon said, and even with the smell of dead boar in his nose he could sense someone else would soon be in their midst. "Someone is approaching. He smells like dog. Must be one of your soldiers."

The Dog's brow furrowed. "What is one of my men doing out here in the East?"

Ryuukotsusei shrugged and got to his feet. The inuyoukai burst through the trees and gave the two Lords a deep bow. "My Lord!" he shouted breathlessly.

"What brings you?" the Inu no Taisho asked.

"My Lord, it is your Lady!"

He needed say no more. He had barely finished speaking before the Dog General and his dragon friend were off and running to where the future of the West would introduce himself to the world.

The day had begun with death, but it would end in the miracle of life.


	4. Little Assassin

They had made it back to the castle just in time to properly welcome the heir to the West into the world. Muck from the swampland they had trekked through still clung to the Dog Lord's hakama as he held his son in his arms, gently running his thumb over the moon on his forehead.

"He has taken after his mother," the Dog said with a smirk.

The Dragon approached father and son, tentatively looking over his friend's shoulder and at the newborn heir. Ryuukotsusei's eyes went wide as his friend turned around and deposited the pup into his arms. Dragon and pup looked appraisingly at each other for a few moments, after which the pup reached up and grazed the Dragon's neck with his sharp little claws.

The few nursemaids in the room gasped, but the Lady of the West leaned back and laughed to herself. A small trickle of blood trailed down into Ryuukotsusei's kosode.

"He's an assassin," Ryuukotsusei said, wiping the blood from his neck. "Even so soon after birth."

"So he is," the Inu no Taisho said, giving a laugh as his son reached out to tug on his father's long hair. "And so he shall be named."

"And what, exactly, will we call him?" the Lady asked.

"Sesshoumaru," the Inu no Taisho proclaimed, the name rolling proudly over his tongue.

"Killing Perfection. How," Ryuukotsusei said, dodging another swipe of infant claws. "Appropriate."


	5. Home Again

The Inu no Taisho let his blood-stained armor fall to the floor, creating a loud clatter in the empty hall. He was winded and wounded, and there would be many more nights like this to come. There was unrest in the West, and neither he nor his allies in the East would rest until matters were settled. He and Ryuukotsusei had many more battles ahead of them, but for now he was home again.

There was the sound of padding feet, young feet trying their best to keep in the shadows. He caught sight of a striped ankle and smiled.

"Is someone sneaking up on me?" he asked the darkness.

His little son stepped out before him, hands clasped behind his back. "Father…"

The boy's eyes were wide, his voice subdued. He was young still and had never seen battle, had never seen his father soaked in enemy's blood.

"Do not fear me, son," the Dog Lord said. He got to his knees and held out his arms. Sesshoumaru ran into his father's embrace, burying his face in his father's neck.

"Are you going to die?"

The Dog Lord laughed and ran his claws through his son's hair. "No, son. It'd take a lot more to kill this dog. Don't worry about me."

"I wish I could help you fight," Sesshoumaru said, and the Inu no Taisho felt a swell of pride in his chest. He was his father's son indeed.

"Someday you will," he said.

He stood with Sesshoumaru in his arms. Looking over the boy's shoulder he saw his Lady standing at the end of the hall. He read her eyes very clearly.

She knew one day it would be her son drenched in youkai blood. Someday that sweet child of theirs would no longer be a child.


	6. Like Father, Like Son

Carefully, the Lady removed the ties from her hair. She let the silken locks fall untamed over her shoulders, and she threaded her comb through them as she watched the sun set.

Somewhere out there, past the mountains set ablaze in the sun's orange fire, her mate was fighting a years old war. With Tetsusaiga and Sounga there was no question he was fairing well, and the Lady wondered when he would visit home again.

The last time he had come home to rest he had begun training Sesshoumaru in the art of swordsmanship. Many moon cycles had passed, and it seemed that Sesshoumaru hadn't laid his sword down for a moment since. She found him at dawn most everyday in the dojo, practicing what his father had taught him. After his calligraphy lessons, he would disappear to his practices again.

The Lady sometimes watched her young son train, though he made it clear he preferred she didn't. Sesshoumaru was like his father in his dedication, his commitment to honing his skill. Yet Sesshoumaru and his father were dissimilar as well.

Her mate was boisterous, his voice like the roll of thunder. He laughed, he joked, he enjoyed the company of his friends and warriors.

Sesshoumaru could not have been more different. He rarely spoke, and he seemed to prefer his own company to that of others. As he grew older, he also grew increasingly reserved and aloof.

He was every bit his mother's son as he was his father's.


	7. Princess

As he ran through the palace, the humans cringed from him in fear.

He didn't want human blood on his blade, only the blood of the boar youkai that had overrun the village. The merciless swine were his enemy just as they were enemies of the humans they oppressed.

But the humans saw no difference. They feared him even as his blade cut through countless demons, leaving humans uninjured his wake. His respect for the weight of life was the only thing keeping him from slaying the ungrateful bastards along with enemies.

An armored boar stood at the end of the hall, his back turned. He was hovering over a small figure and fingering a piece of her fine silk kimono.

Touga made quick work of beheading him. When the corpse fell to the ground he saw the girl he had saved.

She was young, perhaps no older than twelve. He expected her to cower like the rest, but she smiled instead.

"Thank you, my Lord," the princess said, giving him a bow.

"Your name?" he asked.

"Izayoi, Sire."

The Inu no Taisho felt his reserve slipping. Never had a human given him thanks or showed such respect. He heard with deaf ears as his name was shouted.

"Touga!" Ryuukotsusei said, skidding to a halt beside him. "The enemy is retreating! I have sent our men to pursue them! We must go!"

Ryuukotsusei gave him a forceful push, and it was only then that he was able to move again.


	8. The Darkness In Their Hearts

Izayoi stood looking down the path that led to the palace she called home. The battling demons had left a wave of destruction, felling all of her father's prized fruit trees and destroying her mother's adored flowers. The ground was cracked and stained with blood, though all of the bodies had been removed. The palace was in good shape considering what it had been through, though there was now a gaping hole in the roof. All the damage would take months, possibly even a year, to repair.

Since the army of inuyoukai and ryuuyoukai had driven the boars from their land, Izayoi's father had been on edge. He damned all youkai every chance he got, swore revenge, and snapped mercilessly at his servants. Izayoi thought his anger was misplaced. The boars had imposed on their village for nearly a month, robbing them of much-needed food, using the village women in whatever manner they pleased, and causing all sorts of general havoc. Every attempt of her father's army to rid them of the youkai plague had failed and ended in the deaths of human soldiers. The inuyoukai and ryuuyoukai had liberated their village. The property damage they inflicted was meaningless compared to the burden they lifted from the village. At least Izayoi thought so.

Izayoi was unaware of her Lord father's approach until he put a hand on her shoulder.

"Those youkai will pay for what they have done to our village," he said, and Izayoi looked at him.

"One of the inuyoukai saved my life, father," she said, and he looked down at her with his brow furrowed. It was the first he had heard of it. "I hid in the far corner of the palace like you told me, but a boar found me. The inuyoukai slew him before he could touch me. Then a ryuuyoukai called him away."

The Lord looked toward his ruined palace and frowned.

"There is darkness in the heart of all youkai," he said. "The dog would have killed you without thought, given the chance."

Izayoi clearly remembered the demon that had saved her. His long, silver ponytail, the blue stripe that ran across each cheek, his strong jaw and golden eyes. And his name, spoken in the deep growl of the dragon. _Touga_.

Izayoi held her tongue and nodded to her father, though in her heart she knew he was mistaken.


	9. The Western Shiro

For years Ryuukotsusei couldn't understand why his Dog friend lamented being away from home.

Home was nothing more than incompetent servants and empty hallways. It was courtiers who would hang on his every word, then whisper rumors and denounce him when his back was turned. It was the old home of a deceased mother and murdered father. The Eastern Shiro was barren, and he did not feel at home there at all.

His home was in the battlefield, with his generals and his trusted friend.

That was why Ryuukotsusei instead accepted the offer to stay at the Western Shiro during their short leave from the battlefront.

At the Western Shiro he found a son eager to impress his father with his growing skills. He found a wife that longed for her husband's presence.

Ryuukotsusei kept his distance as Touga took his wife's hand, giving it a gentle kiss. The way their eyes met, their fingers remaining linked even as Touga turned to address his young son…

Theirs had been an arranged marriage, yet still there was a love between them. Time hadn't dulled their feelings for each other.

Ryuukotsusei didn't even attempt to convince himself that he wasn't slightly envious.


	10. Longing

She was hesitant to approach him, although she had no doubt he already knew she was watching him. Ryuukotsusei stood on the front steps of The Western Shiro, his hands folded behind his back and his eyes turned upwards towards the darkened heavens.

He could be a difficult demon to converse with. She understood his demeanor, as it was not so dissimilar to her own. Like her, he could be quite reserved, a tad aloof to those around him. Unlike her, there was a severity in his silences. The Lady of the West was no stranger to laughter, and she cared not who saw her occasional smiles. In all the years she had known him, she had never seen Ryuukotsusei change his stony visage. Even when he poked fun at her husband, his face always remained stoically set. He was an extremely guarded man.

She made her way down the steps to stand just behind him. "Do you long for the East, Lord Ryuukotsusei?" she asked.

He uttered a strange noise, a half growl and half sigh. It was uncharacteristically emotive of him.

"Hardly," he said.

"Than what is it that keeps you awake?"

She did not expect him to answer at all, much less turn around to face her. His luminescent red eyes cast his face in an ugly light, making him look strangely thin and hollow.

"Trivial things I will not concern you with," he said, and turned his back on her again.

"Very well," she said, "Good night, Lord Ryuukotsusei."

He listened to her soft treads as she retreated back up the stairs. He turned around just in time to see her disappear into the doorway. He lifted his eyes back towards the heavens, up over the pointed eves of the Shiro where the moon hung in an elegant crescent, just as it did upon the Lady's brow. His fisted claws drew blood from his palms as he battled the restless thoughts that kept him awake.


	11. Taking Leave

He had decided. He could not remain in the West for the entire duration of their leave from the battlefront. His mind swirled with thoughts of what could have been going on in the Eastern Shiro while he was away. While he was away, it was the job of his many advisors and courtiers to make sure things in the Shiro ran smoothly. These were the same people that would whisper rumors about him while his back was turned. They were his father's noblemen. After his father met his end they had turned their services to the son, but not their loyalties. He couldn't trust them for so long.

It was a lie, and he knew it.

While it was true many of them disliked Ryuukotsusei in comparison to his father before him, he could trust them with his Shiro. They may not have liked him as a man, but they recognized him as a Lord and protector. It was not for fear of his Lands that he was leaving, no matter how much he tried to convince himself that it was. He had left his court to its own devices for much longer stretches than this.

It was them. It was the sound of his friend's laughter, of their son barking orders at servants like the little lordling he was. It was beginning to eat at him from the inside. He couldn't take it anymore. Their happiness was driving him mad. But most of all it was the Lady.

Dear Kami, the Lady.

His visions of her were changing, and he did not like it at all. He could not have it. Not of his friend's wife.

He found them in the garden, and his eyes narrowed at the sight of them. They stood embracing each other among the barren trees, the snow falling around them in a delicate veil. He shuddered, and it had nothing to do with the cold. He felt like some sort of voyeur. He approached them and cleared his throat. They turned to face him, the smiles fading from their faces.

"I will be taking my leave," Ryuukotsusei said.

"Leave?" the Lady asked. "Your visit was such a short one, My Lord."

"I believe it would be best if I spent a few days time in the East before we return to battle," he said.

Touga opened his mouth to speak, but Ryuukotsusei did not wait for him. He gathered himself into a ball of youki, releasing his body into its true draconic form once he was high above the clouds.

To his dismay, the miles he put between himself and the West did nothing to quell his restless thoughts.


	12. Bloodstained Snow

In his long life, it was the most snowfall he had ever seen. It covered the ground like a thick blanket, wrapping the East in a shroud of white. It was beautiful and it was bleak, and Ryuukotsusei spent his last day of rest admiring it.

The first thing he noticed was that it dulled his senses. All the scents of the forest seemed to be buried within their whitish tombs of snow. Only one scent reached is nose without trouble; the scent of fresh blood. He followed it deep into his forest, and it was not long before he saw bright crimson droplets among the cold white of the snow underfoot. It was a small trail at first, but t gradually became gory smears that spanned for a few feet across the ground.

The wail of a youkai reached his ears before he was able to detect a second, more potent scent. It was sickly sweet, like a poisonous flower. A little further and he saw the snow overcast with a greenish glow that lingered for a few moments before fading back into the trees. Another wail pf pain followed, and Ryuukotsusei could smell him clearly at last. He was a mixture of his mother and father, but his scent exuded a childish arrogance all his own.

Ryuukotsusei drew his blade and observed through the trees before he struck. The child was in over his head, though he did not realize it, or more likely he probably did not care to admit it. Ryuukotsusei quickly leaped upwards and through the icy branches, drawing his blade across the soft flesh of the youkai's serpentine body. The head fell to the ground before the body did, and Ryuukotsusei landed gracefully beside the severed pieces. He sheathed his sword and the little Lord scowled at him.

"He was my kill. Why did you interfere?" he said. His claws were still glowing a faint green. Blood splattered his white garments, and Ryuukotsusei could tell that not all of it belonged to the youkai he had just slain.

"Your eyes are bigger than your claws, little Prince," the dragon said "He would have surely killed you. Do not speak to me so arrogantly. You are a guest on my lands. Why is it that you are out here in the East?"

Sesshoumaru growled weakly, and the poison ceased to flicker from his claws. "I was walking through the Western Forest when I came upon him. I tried to kill him, be he fled. I pursued him here through the Eastern boundary."

Ryuukotsusei raised an eyebrow. He was barely into adolescence, yet he possessed a fighting spirit that could easily rival that of any elder taiyoukai. Still, he was too young to be so sure of himself.

"You should pick your battles more carefully," Ryuukotsusei said. "You are still young and your training is incomplete. You do not even have a sword of your own yet. Your father would say the same, I know. As would your mother."

He doubted the little Lord's parents had any idea where he was. He was quite the independent type.

"Hnn," Sesshoumaru muttered. "Someday my skill will exceed yours, Lord Ryuukotsusei. I will surpass even my father. He will no longer be the most skilled swordsman among youkai."

Ryuukotsusei's eyes narrowed, and a smile briefly touched his lips as the boy turned and began walking away from him.

"Your father is second to me in swordsmanship," the dragon said.

Sesshoumaru stopped for a moment. "I shall tell him so," he said and was gone, headed westward into the forest.


End file.
